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Customer Getting 101: The Definition of Advertising…

Well typically when we think of getting more customers we think of advertising. So what is advertising?

Before you read on, take a minute to come up with an answer. What is your definition of advertising?

Does it involve branding, or getting your name out there?

Really take the time to come up with something, it’s important. But don’t beat yourself up over it if you struggle. It took years of searching for a man who is now known as the father of modern advertising Albert Lasker to finally find a suitable definition for advertising.

In 1904 Lasker met with a former Canadian Mounted Police officer named John E. Kennedy who was finally able to give him the definition he had been searching for, which was surprisingly only 3 words…

“Salesmanship in print”

Now over time with the changing technology the definition has been modified to the more appropriate “Salesmanship Multiplied”, but the idea is the same.

What does this history lesson have to do with getting more customers to set foot in your showroom?

Well if you really understand the definition “Salesmanship Multiplied” and take it to heart, we in the auto industry have the immediate edge over almost anyone else in the world when it comes to marketing because we understand and appreciate (and survive through) the art of selling. Major portions of society think selling is dirty, pushy, or beneath them and would choose almost any title short of pedophile over that of a salesperson. That means that their advertising will be easily ignored in favor of that written by someone who understands it.

What is Salesmanship Multiplied?

This means each ad you create (whether online or physical) is like thousands of little clones of your best salesperson sent out to get the attention of the prospect and entice them to take action. How does this knowledge affect the way you advertise? Well, like salespeople, your ads can be finicky and require some polishing before they get the right message out there.

This means that they also have to be tracked for effectiveness. Can you imagine not keeping track of which of your salespeople were selling the most? Would you ever just take the total pay and divide it evenly among all the salespeople? Of course not, just like with your staff, you want to keep what works and get rid of what doesn’t.

So how are you going to get these customers that I promised you? Keep this definition in mind, put on your salesperson hat and write some ads that sound the way you’d want your salespeople to sound. (Ask some questions, don’t overwhelm them with information, and for the love of god talk about something other than price!)

YES! Love it. I assign a unique call source # to every creative. What's ironic is that I may receive a call 30-45 days AFTER an ad has run from the old creative even though the source is the same. It can then be re-evaluated for it's impact. Maybe the creative was good, but the timing or placement was wrong.
Inspect everything.
Thanks Brady.

Bryan, that's INCREDIBLE! I have been pushing for something like that at our store for years and so far the only time our ads are even remotely trackable is when the sales manager goes on holidays and I get to look after the advertising...